I have since found out there is so much to see in Dilijan as a whole, but our leader was in such haste to get to........the next fucking church/cathedral/monastery, so as to prattle on and on and on like a tramps overcoat about shit we don't need to know we only got to spend about 30 minutes or so visiting Sharambeyan Street, Old Dilijan.
We though, in all honesty, only needed 30 minutes. Sharambeyan Street was created not in ancient soviet times, but recent Soviet times .... 1979, by artist Hovhannes Sharambeyan.
Hovhannes vision was to present the lifestyle and history of the region. In 2004, thestreet was "leased" to James Tufenkian, a wealthy American of Armenian heritage. He began a programme of restoration, as well as opening a hotel, part of his tourism business empire. (guess you need to recoup your outlay somehow).
Apart from a couple of souvenir shops, there was nothing open, to see.
There were, once, five churches in Dilijan, all of them over time and for various reasons destroyed. Today the spiritual center of Dilijan where residents can attend services is within the Old Dilijan Hotel Complex.
